Kasit Piromya is an APHR Board Member, former Thai career diplomat and former People's Alliance for Democracy ("Yellow Shirts") activist. He also served as Foreign Minister of Thailand from 2008 to 2011. In this episode, Karina Tehusijarana, APHR Media Manager, and Kasit Piromya will talk about the future of democracy in Thailand, what’s inside the…

Wong Chen is an APHR Board Member, Malaysian MP and lawyer. He also has served Non-executive Chairman of the Malaysia Debt Ventures Berhad (MDV) since May 2023, Chairman of the International Relations and Trade Parliamentary Select Committee from December 2019 to May 2020 and again since May 2023 as well as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Subang …

In the third and final episode of APHR’s latest podcast series, Restricting Diversity, Kyaw Min San, an APHR member from Myanmar, introduces us to the world of Blasphemy Laws and some of the experts who are advocating for reforms that bring clarity to laws and policies and protect the most vulnerable. This episode features guests from Myanmar and I…

In the second episode of APHR’s latest podcast series, Restricting Diversity, Luluk Nur Hamidah, a Member of Parliament from Indonesia and an APHR member, introduces us to experts working on women’s rights and how State laws in Malaysia and the Philippines attempt to suppress their fundamental freedoms. They will address how their communities are i…

For the first episode in APHR’s latest podcast series called, Restricting Diversity, Isabel Maria Ximenes, a Member of Parliament from Timor Leste and APHR’s member, introduces us to activists and experts from Myanmar and Vietnam on how issues concerning freedom of religion or belief affect the daily lives of minorities, and what is being done to c…

Ahead of the historic Philippine elections of 9 May 2022, Veronica Pedrosa interviews Etta Rosales, former Member of Parliament and Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights of the Republic of the Philippines, and Luie Guia, former election commissioner. Also with the participation of Walden Bello, vice-presidential candidate, APHR Board Member…

For the final episode in this series, we take a look at the rise in youth-led movements across the region, including Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia.Av APHR

In recent years, Vietnam has made some progress on the issue of marriage equality. What does the campaign there mean for efforts elsewhere in the region, notably Thailand?Av APHR

Human rights advocates know all too well just how challenging rights work can be, here in Southeast Asia and globally. In addition to a host of rights abusing actors targeting those expressing dissent, rights defenders often face what can sometimes feel like a constant losing battle. Advocacy often begins with the odds stacked against them, with go…

In the Philippines - described as a "poster child for the impacts of climate change" - lawyers and activists hope that some accountability measures are on the way when it comes to the issue of the climate crisis. APHR speaks with two figures closely involved in the Climate Change and Human Rights Inquiry in the Philippines.…

Welcome to the final episode in our series, Myanmar: Anatomy of a Coup - Looking Ahead. Throughout the series, we've had one eye on this final episode, which aims to use much of what we've discussed in earlier episodes to provide solid recommendations to international actors - including governments, but also humanitarian actors, think-tanks, and an…

In Episode 4 of our podcast series, Myanmar: Anatomy of a Coup, we'll step outside Myanmar's borders, and analyze the country's international relations, both before and after the coup took place. We'll look at those dynamics close to home, notably with China and neighbors in Southeast Asia, as well as further afield to countries with significant in…

In Episode 3 of our podcast series, Myanmar: Anatomy of a Coup, we'll hear from the many people up and down the country who have risen up against the military since its February 1 coup. This includes human rights defenders, journalists, politicians, and members of the Civil Disobedience Movement, to better understand why so many people across Myanm…

On the 1st of February 2021, Myanmar’s military grabbed power in a coup d’etat, and declared a state of emergency with all legislative, executive and judicial powers handed to Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. Within a day of the military's power grab, government workers launched a Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), in order to mak…

In episode two of our 5-part series, Anatomy of a Coup, we'll delve into the historic pattern of violence Myanmar's military, the Tatmadaw, has used in all corners of the country, and how the brutality we are witnessing today is just the latest in a long history of oppression and state-terror it has meted out against the Myanmar people. For more in…

Episode two in a two-part series that assesses the response of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to the ongoing crisis in Myanmar's Rakhine State, following the devastating military-led crackdown on the Rohingya population that began on the 25th of August 2017. "To be completely candid, I think ASEAN has been pathetic in its handli…

Episode one in a two-part series that assesses the response of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to the ongoing crisis in Myanmar's Rakhine State, following the devastating military-led crackdown on the Rohingya population that began on the 25th of August 2017. "Believe me, as a young man in the camps, it is like hell for me. And I…

Our final episode in this series, "'Excluded and undermined': Female MPs targeted" looks at the threats and harassment against women lawmakers who as well as the reprisals faced by their male counterparts, are also targeted with campaigns of sexist vilification. In this episode, we'll be interviewing Pannika Wanich, a former Thai MP for the Future …

In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has become notorious for his so-called war on drugs, which has seen thousands killed since he took office. In addition to this, he has also deliberately undermined the political opposition, particularly those who have been critical of his drugs war, and other controversial policies. President Duterte ha…

In February 2020, Thailand's Constitutional Court dissolved the Future Forward Party, which was the third most popular party in the country's general election a year earlier, and stripped 12 of its MPs of their parliamentary status. In this episode, we interview Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, founder of the Future Forward Party, about why he believ…

The human rights situation today in Cambodia is dire, and rapidly deteriorating under Prime Minister Hun Sen's single-party state. In 2017, Cambodia's Supreme Court dissolved the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), the only viable opposition party in the country. In this episode, we interview exiled CNRP vice president Mu Sochua, as well as acad…

An introduction to APHR's new podcast series, Parliamentarians at Risk, which discusses the reprisals faced by opposition MPs in Southeast Asia, and the rise of authoritarianism.Av APHR